Chapter 6

"Who the hell buys this much strawberry ice cream!"

Starfire chuckled awkwardly before ripping open another tub and disposing its contents into the bowl. She sighed when nothing else came out and threw the tub into the pile. The bowl was only getting fuller and fuller and despite her obsession towards the red fruit, it still made her feel sick to even think about eating them all in one go. She'd probably get like a dozen brain freezes and her teeth would be so cold she wouldn't even be able to feel them chatter.

"I found it!" 

They all turned to Beast boy as he held up a tub of chocolate ice cream as though it were a first place trophy. Of course it'd be the odd one out.

-&-

A few stupid riddles later and the Titans sat at the table arranging the riddles in the order they'd found them.

What loses its head in the morning and gets it back at night - Pillow.

You scream, I scream. We all scream - Ice cream.

Etc Etc...

What did all of these things have in common?

"Wait." Starfire's voice broke through the silence as she studied the riddles. "The first letter of the words. They're different. T-They're highlighted or bolder. The point is they're different."

She fumbled around with the pieces of card vertically aligning them and gasps.

"They spell out a word."

"P."

"I."

"R."

"A."

"N."

"H."

"A."

"Piranha. Holy shit they're going to drop her in a pool of piranhas!"

"Or maybe they're going to force her to eat them!" All eyes turned to Beast boy. He shrugged. "I've always wanted to try it."

Damian had to force his hand down when it moved to hit him. He cleared his throat. Now was not the time for his emotional moods. Their main focus was Marinette. "Where do we know that stores Piranhas?" He looked around at their thinking faces and grumbled. "The aquarium you idiots."

Why does a public aquarium have Piranhas you ask? Well it's Gotham!

"We need to make a plan."

"Why? It's all five of us against one of him."

"He managed to sneak in undetected, plant all of these cards and kidnap Marinette in the time I went to the bathroom. That's too suspicious. He couldn't have done it alone."

"Should we get your brothers in on this?"

Damian sent a glare towards Raven but softened it. That would probably be best. Last time with Joker, she'd been lucky. They'd been worn out and probably weren't on their best game. And he hated to admit it but right now, it was best to get the...adults...in on this. 

So there he was making a call he'd probably regret later but didn't have the time to regret now.

-&-

"Y'know you should've told us about this a lot earlier. And how the heck didn't you notice someone sneak into your tower and plant a bunch of cards then kidnap Marinette? Just. How?"

Damian grumbled as he stared at the front entrance to the Aquarium, the others standing by his side. He turned to Tim shooting him one of his signature glares. "We can talk about this later. Right now a girl...woman is probably dangling over a pool of piranhas scared to death because of us. We're running out of time."

Tim rolled his eyes. Way to evade the question Baby bird. His steps were slow and steady as he made his way to the entrance. It opened as soon as he came in a close enough proximity and they entered the dark building.

Dick held up his hand stopping them in their tracks. "Remember the plan?"

They all nodded. The Titans on the left and the others on the right. They would surround him while Damian (he insisted on it being him) got Marinette. 

As they split, Damian could feel himself shaking. He was itching to find her. Literally. He scratched his neck. He could feel his anxiety biting at his body and felt the need to grab her and go. 

They slowly advanced towards the back where the Piranhas were being held and stopped when heard talking. Two voices. Both feminine. The Riddler's partners perhaps?

He saw movement at the other side and knew it was time to move into action. He looked back at his team and nodded. They nodded back.

"If you move I'll blow your fucking brains ou--" Jason's voice faded away and he slowly lowered his gun as the lights turned on revealing Marinette in all her glory perched on a chair. No constraints. No gag. Not even tape. Nothing. Just sat there comfortably talking to Tikki.

Her head whipped around as she noticed the new arrivals and the biggest shit-eating grin found its way on her face. "Oh hey guys!"

Damian's first instinct was to run over and hug her but he was stunned. He couldn't move. His mouth was wide open and his eyes were growing wet all over again as he stared at the girl...woman he'd spent hours solving ridiculous puzzles for. 

"Where's the Riddler?"

Had she taken care of him? Damn she was strong. But--

"Yeahhh. About that." She scratched her head. "He's in Arkham."

Tim's knives dropped on the floor sending the sound of metal on whatever the hell the Aquarium floor was echoing. Well this was pointless.

"You already got rid of him?" She should've come home. There they were worrying about her for hours when she'd already solved the damn problem!

"No." She cleared her throat averting her eyes. "He kinda...sorta...never left in the first place."